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2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. YULE & W. A. BAGLIN.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR BLOCKING HATS.

Patented-June 13, 1893. v

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G. YULE & W. A; BAGIIN. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FUR BLOCKING HATS.

No. 499,492. PatentedJune 13, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE YULE, 0E NEWARK, .NEW JERSEY, AND WILLIAM A. BAGLIN, OF NEW YORK,NY.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR BLOCKING HATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,492, dated June 13,1893. Application filed October 16, 1891. Serial No. 408,908. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE YULE, reside in g at Newark, Essex county,New Jersey, and WILLIAM A. BAGLIN, residing in the city, county, andState of New York, citizens of the United States, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Processes of and Apparatus for BlockingHats, fully described and represented in the following specification andthe accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention is designed to furnish a means of pressing the crown intohat bodies of flat form. In such case the form of the felt is changedmuch more than when aconical body is blocked to form a crown and brim,and special means are required to prevent the overstraining of thefibers.

In our invention we support the fiat body upon a flat carrier with asuitable hole in the middle to form'the band of the hat, and We grip theextreme edge of the body so that when the hat block is pressed into thesame the felt may be stretched throughout the entire substance of thebody from the tip to the edge. The means that we have described areespecially adapted to the manufacture of ladies hats of fancy styleswhich are shaped with very low crowns.

The apparatus may, as shown inthe drawings, be provided with means forpartly drying thehat bodybyrotating it upon the supporting carrier, butsuch an attachment is not essential to practice the process of blockingalone.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2isa plan of the same, with the carrier and blocking lever removed. Fig.3 is a side elevation, with the parts in section where hatched, on thecenter line of Fig. 4, which latter is a plan of the entire apparatus.

In the drawings, S is a stand supporting a curb T upon which the hatblocking lever e is pivoted at P. A bearing is is fixed in the bottomofthe curb to support a spindle Z, the

carrier to admit the hat block c. The hat upon the pulley s when thespindle is lifted by the treadle. A circular steam box 0, having arubber packing 0 in its upper edge, is

fixed within the curb beneath the carrier a, and is furnished with asteam pipe 1) and air pipe 19'. The carrier falls into contact with thepacking 0 when the treadle is released from pressure, and when theblocking lever is brought into its operative position, as shown in Fig.3, the clamp 01 presses upon the edge of the hat body and forces thecarrier into still closer contact with the packing. The latch q ispivoted upon a slide g on the front of the curb T, and the slide isprovided with an adjusting screw 0 so as to produce the requisitepressure of the clamp d upon the hat body,when the latch is engaged withthe blocking lever. The pivot of the blocking lever is mounted upon thecurb by slides with screws t and u, the screwu (like the screw 1")serving to adjust the pressure of the clamp d, and the screwt operatingto set the clamp and hat block eccentrically over the carrier. Thecarrier in such case would have the aperture formed eccentrically to therim or hat body, and the hat-crown could therefore be formed eccentricto the brim when required. This is very desirable in making fancy stylesof ladies hats, and wholly obviates the trimming or excessive stretchingof the brim to make it wider upon one side than the other of the crown.

The clamp 01 consists in a round or oval ring of metal attachedremovably to the blocking lever by screws (1, and is preferably facedwith india-rubber upon its lower edge to press elastically upon the hatbody 0'. The edge of the clamp is made very narrow so as to grip theextreme edge of the hat body and thus permit the remainder of the, bodyto stretch freely during the blocking operation. The carrier a ispreferably formed with an upwardly projecting rim a to guide and holdthe hat body into the desired position upon the carrier, and the carrierand clamp d are preferably made detachable, and formed in a series ofdifferent sizes, to fit various hat bodies.

With the Construction described, the hat body maybe clamped so tightlyupon the carrier that steam cannot escape from beneath the same, and thesteam introduced through the pipe 1) into the steam box 0 thereforepresses upon the whole under surface of the body and softens it asdesired.

The process of blocking a hat with such apparatus is as follows: The hatbodies are felted to form a series of felt disks of substantially thesame dimensions, and of suitable form, whether round or oval, to fitinside the rim a upon the carrier. The blocking lever and block cbeingraised, the hat body is laid upon the carrier a, and the clamp 61pressed thereon by the lever e. The steam is then admitted through pipe19 to the steam box 0, and the felt is subjected to its influence untilsufficiently softened. The steam is then cut off, the blocking lever islifted, and the spindle and carrier are then raised by operating thetreadle n to press the friction wheelt' against the rotating pulley s,which rotates the carrier at a high rate of speed. Such rotationoperates by centrifugal force to stretch the edge of the hat body a intoclose and accurate contact with the rim a and thus gives the desiredshape to the edge of the hat brim. The blocking lever is then broughtdownward and latched, with the clamp d pressed in the desired degreeupon the felt by adjusting the latch screw 0. The clamp by its elasticgrip, then holds the edge of the brim immovably, while the hat block isdepressed by the screw f to a suitable distance to form a crown of thedesired height. During the depression of the hat block, the felt isstretched not only in the center, where the crown isformed; but throughits entire substance to the edge of the brim, where it is held by theclamp d, and the felt is thus prevented from overstraining at any onepoint. As the pressure of thehat block is liable to draw the edge of thefelt in slightly, it is preferable to again rotate the carrier after theblocking operation. This is done by raising the blocking lever anddepressing the treadle to rotate the carrier, the rapid motion of thecarrier then stretching the hat brim afresh into close contact with therim a and discharging the moisture from the body at the same time so asto dry out the felt in a great degree. The rotation of the carrier alsooperates to press the band of the crown into contact with the carrier atthe margin of the aperture 1) and thus forms the band accurately whilethe hat is drying, as

the aperture is necessarily formed of the exact size to whichthe body isblocked.

To facilitate the drying operation, a blast of either hot or cold airmay be introduced Within the box 0 through the pipe 99, the airobtaining access to the under side of the hat body between the arms a ofthe carrier, although the carrier is lifted above the packing so as notto Wholly retain the air in the box.

Instead of the arms a, the carrier may be provided, beneath the aperture12, with a cavity adapted to shape the hat crown accurately, and therotation of the body, with the carrier, after the hat block has beenpressed into the same, operates to press the felt strongly against thewalls of such cavity and to thus shape the band and entire surface ofthe crown as may be desired. With such construction, perforations wouldbe formed in the walls of the cavity to admit the steam or airintroduced within the steam box by the pipe 1; or 1). Waste pipes 13 andB are shown applied to the steam box and to the curb outside of the sameto drain therefrom the water which is condensed in the steam box ordischarged from the hat when wringing the same.

By this process a series of hats may, when first blocked, be formed withthe brims of exactly the same size, and all future trimming to give thehat brim the desired shape is thus wholly avoided. The brim is thusbrought to the desired dimensions without any waste of of felt, and itis also provided with a raw edge, which is much superior to one formedby cutting the felt.

The process possesses special advantages in the blocking of hats whichhave the brim previously napped, as the process wholly avoids theapplication of stretching tongs or fingers to the brim which is liableto damage the nap during the blocking operation, and wholly avoids thetrimming of the brim subsequent to the blocking operation, to give theedge of the brim the desired dimensions. The rotating carrier for dryingthe hats is claimed in a separate Patent No. 483,823, dated October 4,1892, entitled machine for wringing hats, and such machine, by thecentrifugal force developed, is capable of preparing a series of hatbodies of exactly the same dimensions to fit the rim a upon the blockingmachine. The wringing machine is not claimed herein except incombination with the devices for blocking the hat.

By practicing this process upon napped hats, the body may be felted witha raw edge of nearly the desired dimensions, and the exact diameter forthe body secured by rotation in the wringing machine before and afterthe nap is applied, and the bodies are thus adapted to lit the rim uponthe hat blocking carrier, and to be stretched by centrifugal force intocontact therewith, after the crown is pressed in the body; without anyinjury to the flowing fur. The napped hat is thus completed moreperfectly and with less injury to the nap than by any previous process.

The carrier a and clamp (Z are shown herein of oval form, and thecarrier therefore reintoa position corresponding with that of the clamp;which is readily done by the'operator,

and the clamp is thus adapted to fit and press upon the extreme edge ofthe brim upon all sides. The hat bodies, in flat disk form, may be madeby suitable felting of bats formed of either fiat or conical shape, butthe mode of preparing the hat bodies for treatment, by this process andapparatus, is Wholly immaterial.

If the aperture 19 in the carrier be made eccentric to the spindle, theblocking lever may be moved by the screw 2%, to adjust the hat blockover such aperture, and the clamp may then be adjusted upon the lever tofit within the rim 06*, by means of the bolts d and slots (P. Theopposite end from the fulcrum of the blocking lever is formed to receivethe latch q for a considerable length, so as to fit the same when thefulcrum P is moved upon the curb.

We are aware that it is old to take a hat which has been previouslyblocked and clamp the brim immovably between flanges pressed upon thewhole surface of the brim, and to then stretch the crown to shape thesame and the band more perfectly. This is a wholly different operationfrom the blocking operation, and the mechanism employed is differentfrom ours in which we clamp the edge of the brim only, so that inblocking the hat the felt may yield from the tip of the crown all theway to the edge of the brim. This is very essential, in stretching thecrown from a flat piece of felt, and avoids in great degreeoverstretching and tearing the band. The process we practice istherefore different, the effect-upon the felt is different, and themechanism requires to be essentially different from any heretoforeemployed, so as to securely grip the entire edge of the body during theblocking operation.

As the felt is liable to vary in thickness at different portions of theedge, we secure a firm and uniform grip upon all parts of the edge, bymaking the clamp with a thin narnow edge and facing the same withindia-rubher, or other yielding material, so as to press elasticallyupon the felt. The clamp is thus a yielding clamp, and adapts itself todifferent portions of the felt so as to grip the entire edge withfirmness, and prevent it from yielding during the blocking operation.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimedherein is 1. The process of blocking hats which consists in firstfeltingahat body into a fiat disk, then securing the edges of the diskrigidly and supporting the adjacent portion thereof, and finallydepressing the central portion of the disk and stretching the body toform the crown, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The process of blocking hats which consists in first felting ahatbody into a flat disk, second, rotating such disk within a suitableshaping ring and thereby stretching the edge of the body into contacttherewith, third, securing the edges of the disk rigidly and supportingthe adjacent portion thereof, and fourth, depressing the central portionof the disk and stretching the body to form the crown, substantially asherein set forth.

3. The process of blocking hats which consists in first felting a hatbody into a flat disk, second, rotating such disk within a suitableshaping ring and thereby stretching the edge of the body into contacttherewith, third, securing the edge of the disk rigidly and supportingthe adjacent portion thereof, fourth, depressing the central portion ofthe disk and stretching the body to form the crown, and fifth, releasingthe edge of the hat body and again rotating the same to dry the latter,substantially as herein set forth.

4.' The process of blocking hats which consists in first felting a hatbody into a fiat disk, second, rotating such disk within a suitableshaping ring and thereby stretching the edge of the body into contacttherewith, third, securing the edge of the disk rigidly and supportingthe adjacent portion thereof, fourth, depressing the central portion ofthe disk and stretching the body to form the crown, and fifth, releasingthe edge of the'hat body and again rotating the same to stretch the edgeof the body into contact with the shaping ring and simultaneouslyprojecting an air blast against the body, to dry the same, substantiallyas herein set forth.

5. A hat blocking machine provided with a flat carrier tosupport the hatbody, a clamp having a thin edge adapted to press theouter edge of thehat body upon the flat face of the carrier, a hat block and means forpressing it toward the carrier, and the carrier being provided withasuitable aperture to form the band of the hat, substantially as hereinset forth.

6. A hat blocking machine provided with a flat carrier adapted tosupport a flat hat body and having an aperture to receive a hat blockand a rim upon its face as described, means for rotating the carrier andstopping the same at pleasure, a clamp with a thin edge for pressing theedge of the hat body upon the flat face of the carrier adjacent to thesaid rim, and a hat block with means for pressing the same into theaperture in the carrier, substantially as herein set forth.

7. A hat blocking machine provided with the curb T, the spindle Z havingthe flat carrier a with aperture I) mounted thereon and movablevertically by the treadle n, friction wheels for driving the spindlewhen lifted, the clamp for holding the hat body upon the carrier, and ahat block with means for pressing the same into the aperture in thecarrier, as herein set forth. 7

8. A hat blocking machine provided with a flat carrier adapted tosupport a flat hat body and having an aperture to receive the block,

a steam box with a packing upon its upper side adapted to fit the underside of the carrier, means for movingthe carrier to and from the steambox, a clamp for pressing the edge of the hat body upon the flat face ofthe carrier, and a hat block with means for pressing the same into theaperture in the carrier, substantially as herein set forth.

9. A hat blocking machine provided with a flat carrier having anaperture to admit the hat block, a steam box beneath the carrier tosupply steam, to the under side of the hat body, a curb surrounding thecarrier and steam box, a hat blocking lever pivoted upon one edge of thecurb and provided at the opposite edge with an adjustable latch, and ahat block and a clamp secured to the hat blocking lever and movabletoward the carrier, as herein set forth.

10. A hat blocking machine provided with the stand S the friction pulleys rotated continuously, the bearing 70 and treadle 'n supporting thespindle Zwith friction wheel iand having at its upper end the flatcarrier a, the

curb T surrounding the carrier, the blocking lever e pivotednpon thecurb and provided with the clamp d, and the hat block a and screw f, thewhole arranged and operated substantially as herein set forth.

11. A hat blocking machine provided with a fiat carrier having anaperture to receive the hat block, the lever e having at one endavertically adjustable pivot, and at the opposite end a latch forsecuring the lever, and provided with the clamp d to press upon the flatface of the carrier, and with the hat block 0 and screw f for operatingthe same, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE YULE. WILLIAM A. BAGLIN. \Vitnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, J OSEPH PHELPS.

